‘Together is better’: Staten Island students gather for Black History Month event

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island students from schools across the borough converged at the Michael J. Petrides School on Thursday to learn about positive digital citizenship and the Black innovators who made change in the technology sector.

The District 31 joint My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) and My Sister’s Keeper (MSK) session, called “Black History Month Goes Digital: All Things Technology!” focused on empowering students to use their voice to bring about meaningful change. It brought together MBK and MSK groups from schools across the borough for collaboration and learning.

“The goal of today is seeing how we could lift each other up, because this work can only happen together,” said District 31 Acting Superintendent Dr. Roderick Palton. “Because my big thing is — together is better, and we want them to be here, understanding that it doesn’t matter what the identity is, we all have responsibility for each other, to uplift each other and not just tolerate each other but collaborating with each other.”

The day started with breakfast in the Borough President’s Hall of Science, followed by keynote speakers and presentations in the Sunnyside school’s auditorium.

Students from several schools presented Black History Month speeches on notable Black technology innovators.

Andres Martin, author of “HBCU Night,” donated free books to attendees before giving a speech on how it isn’t too early to think about college plans, especially at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

“One of the things that I always wanted to do is advocate and educate students, just like yourselves, on how HBCUs can help develop you and transform you into being the leader you aspire to be,” said Martin.

Students were then placed in interactive breakout sessions designed to teach them digital citizenship and different technology skills that can be used for advocacy and impact.

These included social media branding and creation for a positive proactive footprint, using video and strategizing posts on social media, learning to use Adobe to generate content for branding, podcasting, and artificial intelligence (AI) for content creation using Adobe and Canva.

The event was hosted by Palton, Andre Harrison, administrator of special education, and Darlyne Aristide-Degramont, district lead for MSK-Staten Island and director of special education for District 31.

“They are connected to technology,” said Palton. “We are in a tech world. If they understand these basic technical skills, they can use that with AI [artificial intelligence] to launch a career.”